


Arthur's wedding present

by moonfairy13



Series: Fremione and the Weasleys [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fred Weasley Lives, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Weasley Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 02:16:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfairy13/pseuds/moonfairy13
Summary: Arthur has a secret wedding present that he wants to give to Hermione before she marries Fred...





	Arthur's wedding present

Arriving in the garden with her cross stitch project and a quilt that Molly had handed her as she passed through the kitchen, Hermione looked for a shady spot and headed towards one of the apple trees. She spread the quilt on the ground and, as she went to sit, she heard a deep, quiet voice behind her.

“Do you have two minutes to spare, love?” It was Fred’s dad, Arthur.

“Of course,” she smiled, tossing her project onto the quilt and following Arthur towards his shed. He looked behind them, as if to ensure that they weren’t being followed, and Hermione was very curious.

She had never actually been inside Arthur’s shed before, and she was amazed to see it. Like the tent that they had stayed in during the Quidditch World Cup, it had some kind of enlarging charm on it and was much bigger on the inside. It was also cooler inside than out, though whether from a cooling charm or one of the muggle devices that Arthur so loved to tinker with, Hermione couldn’t tell. She looked around, seeing a wondrous collection of things, magical and muggle, as Arthur leaned proudly against his workbench. There was even a full-sized train set, with a model of the Hogwarts’ Express puffing around the track. 

Hermione had never realised from the outside, but the shed also had a picture window which gave him a full view of the garden. It must have been some kind of soundproofing, she realised, because she could no longer hear the rest of the Weasleys who were still milling around the garden.

Hermione frowned, trying to make sense of it. The window on the outside was tiny, and you couldn’t see in for the dirt, so she had always assumed that Arthur’s shed was equally tiny and dingy. In fact, she was sure that had how it had looked when she had once passed it when the door was open. But now it was a sanctuary of calm; a cool respite from the bustle of the rest of The Burrow and its garden.

Arthur indicated a soft armchair, which looked clean and cosy. “Would you like to sit?”

“I would,” Hermione smiled. “This is lovely, Arthur. I had no idea!”

“Well that’s the general idea,” said Bill’s voice from the door.

“Oh good,” Arthur turned to his eldest son. “You got my message.”

“I did. Managed to sneak away from cooking for a few minutes.” Bill and Arthur settled themselves into armchairs and Bill looked at Arthur, waiting for him to speak.

“I want to give you your wedding present now, Hermione. This is just to you from me, mind. In honour of you marrying Fred tomorrow, though it’s not a present for both of you, as you’ll realise when you open it.”

Hermione was very curious when Arthur passed her a small package. Her present was wrapped in a clean yellow rag, tied up with a bit of green garden string and finished with a bow.

“I didn’t have any wrapping paper in my shed, love” he explained. 

“But you didn’t even know I was getting married until a couple of hours ago, and you’ve not left The Burrow since.”

“Ah,” Arthur tapped the side of his nose with his finger. “Well I won’t pretend it’s a unique wedding present. Sort of a generic thing for a select few Weasleys, so I had it already. Always hoped you’d marry one of the boys and get one of your own. So far, it’s just me and Bill.”

“OK, so now I am intrigued!” Hermione pulled one end of the bow and removed the string. Unrolling the rag, a small silver key fell out into her hand. She looked up to see the two wizards grinning, and was startled at how alike they looked. She had never really seen the two of them side by side before.

“It’s a key to my shed, love,” Arthur explained. “Only for the introverted Weasleys. If that lot ever get a bit much,” he indicated towards the wedding marquee with his thumb, “you just sneak over here and let yourself in. There are cooling charms, silencing charms, a one-way window and, best of all, when any of that lot look in, they just see a hot, dusty old shed and none of them ever want to come in. They even built a separate shed for broomsticks; mine wasn’t even deemed good enough for that!”

“Arthur!” exclaimed Hermione. “That’s bloody brilliant! Does Molly know?”

“Well that’s the thing,” said Bill, leaning forward in his armchair. “We either induct you into the secret introverted Weasley shed club now and you keep our hidey hole hush-hush forevermore, or if you don’t want to keep any secrets from young Fred, then we’ll obliviate you and let you think that Dad just wanted to make sure you were OK.”

“I’m honoured,” said Hermione, although she was also a little perturbed, for she didn’t really want to have secrets from Fred, and this was the second time in one day that an older wizard had threatened to obliviate her. But she figured that she could take some time to think and give the key back later if she couldn’t live with the secrecy. “I think it could be OK … for the sake of my mental health, so I would love to accept this key, thank you!” 

“Good. There’s a kettle over there, and we’ll bring some of those fruit teabags you like over. And we have a beer fridge over there if that’s your thing.” He pointed to the corner. 

“You’re all set up, aren’t you?” Hermione looked around in amazement as she kept seeing more and more things.

“We are.” Bill slid further down his chair, crossed one leg over the other and put his hands behind his head. “And now you’re set up too, it’s forty winks for me before Mum realises I’ve gone and wants me back for more salad chopping.”

Hermione stood from her chair and gave Arthur a hug. “Thank you, it’s a lovely present, and I shall come and see you lots.”

“You do that, love.” 

As Hermione left the shed, she looked around to check that no-one was watching her. Everyone looked busy, though she realised that Fred must have seen her as he strode across the garden towards her. Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss and then whispered into her ear, “Did he give you a key to the secret sanctuary then?”

Hermione’s eyes grew wide and she looked from side to side, not knowing what to say.

Fred leaned down and whispered into her ear. “We all know about it, love. He and Bill aren’t nearly as subtle as they think they are, and Mum told us ages ago. We’re not to tell them we know though.” 

Hermione was shaking her head in amazement, as Fred continued. “You enjoy the peace when you need it. He’ll love having you sitting in there with him now and again while he tinkers away with his muggle stuff. Come on, I’m going to escort you to your quilt and you can do your sewing while we carry on making you a lovely wedding venue.”


End file.
